IT MIGHT be a bit early to be talking about awards this season but ,whatever happens from here on out, Chris Hughton at Birmingham City should be clearing a space on his mantelpiece.

A lot has been made of the Blues’ form recently and quite rightly too, as heading into this weekend Birmingham were unbeaten in seven matches, which is fantastic for any club.

But to do that with Birmingham, a team who had to contend with a lot of European games along the way, is fantastic and a real testament to the work Chris has been doing at St Andrew’s.

However, it is not just all the games that Chris has had to cope with, it is everything that has been going on in the background at the club that he deserves a lot of credit for also.

It is a complete and utter shambles at Birmingham City as nobody knows who owns the club and nobody knows who is running the club.

There has been a lot spoken about Carson Yeung and the troubles he has faced and everything about the running of the club seems shrouded in mystery. No-one seems to know exactly what is going on.

That is no way to run a football club and we have seen it have ill effects in the past with teams like Portsmouth and Plymouth.

But amidst all that Chris has got his head down and made sure his players are doing their jobs on the pitch – and he has got the rewards for that.

It was no easy feat, coming into a club that had just been relegated and had lost a whole host of their best players with the likes of Craig Gardner, Roger Johnson, Barry Ferguson, Scott Dann and Cameron Jerome all moving on.

Chris and the club had to sell their best players to get money in and basically patch up a team that looked in complete turmoil and he has done a great job on that front.

He got in some young players who are keen and some older professionals that still have a lot to offer, while getting striker Marlon King scoring again has been great.

Chris is working his players really hard but working them really well and when you do that you don’t get any complaints.

He is giving us more evidence, if Newcastle ever needed it, at just what a good coach he can be and I think everyone can see now that he was treated harshly in the north east.

Blues have played well over 30 games already this season and they show no signs of slowing down – dumping Premier League neighbours Wolves out of the FA Cup in midweek was evidence of that, as was the 6-0 thrashing of Millwall.

If they win their game in hand they jump into the play-off places and that will be important in building more belief and confidence as they push for promotion. They are also on a cup run and have a great opportunity. I know Sheffield United are playing well but that is a game they can win.

Chris said that his side had played 37 games and he asked if anyone wanted a rest and none of them did,

That is so refreshing to hear and I take my hat off to what Birmingham are doing down there.